I. Field
The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for performing call setup for a video call.
II. Background
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, data, and so on. These networks may be multiple-access networks capable of providing communication for multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and/or transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access networks include a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, and an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network.
Video telephony or videophone is a rapidly growing application for many wireless communication networks. A videophone application transmits voice and video simultaneously using, for example, a 3G-324M standard that is defined by 3GPP and 3GPP2 standard bodies. The 3G-324M standard is based on ITU-T Recommendation H.324, entitled “Terminal for Low Bit Rate Multimedia Communication.” H.324 utilizes both ITU-T Recommendation H.223, entitled “Multiplexing Protocol for Low Bit Rate Multimedia Communication,” and ITU-T Recommendation H.245, entitled “Control Protocol for Multimedia Communication.” H.324 is an international standard for multimedia communication on a low bit rate circuit-switched network. H.223 is a protocol that receives video, audio, data, and control as separate media streams and generates multiplex protocol data units (MUX-PDUs) for these streams. H.245 is a protocol for exchanging signaling to setup and manage an H.324 circuit-switched video telephony call (or simply, a video call) between two terminals that are end-points of the video call.
Setting up a video call in a wireless network that supports 3G-324M standard (or simply, a 3G-324M wireless network) typically takes a long time. Each terminal is normally not aware of the capabilities of the other terminal. Furthermore, no configuration information is available a priori on how multimedia data should be sent and received. Hence, the two terminals typically exchange multiple rounds of signaling messages for call setup in order for each terminal to ascertain the capabilities of the other terminal and to configure pertinent parameters for the video call. This allows the two terminals to successfully send and receive multimedia data. The long time required to perform the call setup is highly undesirable since a user must wait for the call setup to be completed before multimedia data can be sent or received. Furthermore, valuable system resources are expended to exchange the multiple rounds of signaling messages.
There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to expedite call setup for a video call in a 3G-324M wireless network.